SOLNews (27.7.2004) - This very evening the Syrian orthodox Bishop Mor Severius Saliba Tuma passed away at 7 pm at the age of 35 in Zahle, Lebanon. Mor Severius Saliba suffered from a fatal brain tumor..The funeral will be held at the St. George Church on 29th at 5 pm.

Mor Severius Saliba Tuma was born in the city of Kamishli, Syria, on November 21, 1969. He followed his theological education at the Patriarchal Seminary in Damascus. In 1989, he became a monk and in 1992 he was ordained a priest. From 1994 to 1998, he visited the Oriental Institute in Rome, studying for his Doctorate. He later returned to Damascus and became Vicar there.

On 14th May 2000, he was ordained as a Metropolitan by the Syrian orthodox Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas at the Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral in Saydnaya, Damascus, for the new diocese of Zahle in Lebanon. This diocese was earlier part of the Beirut diocese. The young prelate could serve his flock for only four years as a Bishop.

"I prefer to be accused unjustly, for then I have nothing to reproach myself with, and joyfully offer this to the good Lord. Then I humble myself at the thought that I am indeed capable of doing the thing of which I have been accused. " - Saint